The Governor of the State of Illinois is an elected constitutional officer, the head of the executive branch and the highest state office in Illinois. The governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and is not subject to any term limits.

Current officeholder

The 41st and current governor is Pat Quinn, a Democrat. Quinn became governor on January 29, 2009 after the Illinois State Senate impeached former Governor Rod Blagojevich. Quinn won election to a full term on November 2, 2010, which he began serving on January 10, 2011. Quinn's current term will expire on January 12, 2015.

Quinn was first elected as Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 1992 and was re-elected in 1996. Before that, he served as Illinois Treasurer from 1991 through 1995. Prior to taking state office, he served as a commissioner on the Cook County Board of Tax Appeals and as a revenue director for the city of Chicago. Quinn holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.[1]

To be eligible to hold the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller or Treasurer, a person must be a United States citizen, at least 25 years old, and a resident of this State for the three years preceding his election.

Elections

Illinois elects governors in the midterm elections, that is, even years that are not Presidential election years. For Illinois, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018 are all gubernatorial election years. The gubernatorial inauguration is always set for the second Monday in the January following an election (Illinois Constitution, Article V, Section 2. Thus, January 12, 2015 and January 14, 2019 are inaugural days.

Vacancies

In the event of a vacancy, the line of succession is as follows: the lieutenant governor, the elected attorney general, and then the elected secretary of state. The wording of the state constitution suggests that an attorney general or secretary of state appointed to fill a vacancy is not eligible to succeed to the office of governor.

The governor may temporarily remove himself from office by stating a serious impediment to discharging his office to the secretary of state and to the officer who would succeed him. The governor may resume his office at will. Removing the governor against his will for reasons for mental or physical health is in the hands of the Illinois Supreme Court.

Duties

Charged with upholding and faithfully executing all laws, the governor of Illinois is also the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. With the Senate's confirmation, the governor appoints all officers not otherwise provided for in law; the governor also makes recess appointments when the Senate is not in session and may remove any gubernatorial appointee for any reason (Illinois Const., Article V, § 9-10).

The governor is constitutionally required to submit a balanced budget. In turn, the legislature must pass a balanced budget, and the budget must be balanced in order for the governor to sign it into law.[4]

Governor's office budget

The budget for the Office of the Governor in Fiscal Year 2012 was $6,485,800.[5]

Partisan balance 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, Illinois had Democratic governors in office for the first 11 years while there were Republican governors in office for the last 11 years. During the final 11 years of the study, Illinois was under Democratic trifectas.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states had divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

SQLI and partisanship

Illinois was one of eight states to demonstrate a dramatic partisan shift in the 22 years studied. A dramatic shift was defined by a movement of 40 percent or more toward one party over the course of the study period.

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Illinois state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. For a period of two years (1995 and 1996), Illinois had a Republican trifecta between two periods of divided government (1992-1995 and 1997-2002). Between 2003 and 2013, Illinois has had a Democratic trifecta. For four straight years, Illinois was in the top-10 in the SQLI ranking between 1997 and 2000 under divided government. Illinois slipped into the bottom-10 in the ranking in the year 2012 (41st) under a Democratic trifecta. The state had its most precipitous drop in the SQLI ranking between 2006 and 2007, dropping nine spots. Illinois had its biggest leap in the SQLI ranking between 1996 and 1997, rising eight spots in the ranking.

SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 27.10

SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 11.50

SQLI average with divided government: 11.78

Chart displaying the partisanship of Illinois government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

Historical officeholders

There have been 43 Governors of Illinois since 1818. Of the 43 officeholders, 3 were Democratic Republican, 21 were Republican, 17 were Democrat and 2 switched parties while in office.[7]